From scalpels to surgical tables, surgeons rely on a multitude of specially designed tools and apparatuses to perform surgical procedures. In any number of procedures, the surgeon may need to position and, thereafter, manipulate a patient in various positions (e.g., supine, prone, lateral-decubitus, Trendelenburg, reverse Trendelenburg, roll) throughout the surgery in order to perform various steps of the procedure. Positioning the patient in the various positions may require the use of a specialized table or support structure that is uniquely designed to facilitate the required movements for the procedure. In addition to repositioning a patient during the procedure, certain procedures (e.g., spinal surgery) may require the patient to undergo medical imaging during the procedure. To facilitate the medical imaging, the surgeon or another medical professional may generate medical images of the patient while the patient is supported on the support structure. In the case of Computed Tomography Imaging (“CT”), the patient and a portion of the support structure may be positioned within a circular opening of a scanning machine for the generation of medical images and then removed to continue the procedure. In order to generate medical images of the patient without being obstructed by imaging of the support structure, the table must be constructed of radiolucent materials (e.g., carbon fiber, PEEK, polymers, among other materials). Additionally, the support structure must function to appropriately position the patient in the scanning machine (e.g., the “donut” of the machine, such as an 0-arm). In addition to the various positioning and materials requirements on surgical support structures, laws and regulations may provide additional requirements for safely positioning patients during a surgical procedure.
In many surgical procedures, a patient is anesthetized for the procedure. Often, a patient's trachea is intubated (i.e., a tube is placed into the trachea to maintain an open airway) while the patient is under anesthesia. Conventionally, the tracheal tube is taped to the patient's face or otherwise to hold the tube in place for the duration of the procedure. As is the case with many surgical procedures (e.g., spinal surgery), the patient and, thus, the surgical table, must be positioned in different orientations (e.g., flexion, extension, Trendelenberg) for a particular portion of the surgical procedure. While articulating the surgical table to position or reposition the patient in flexion, for example, the table must be hinged or pivoted to facilitate bending along the patient's spine. To eliminate dragging of the patient's torso over the table and to facilitate smoother, simultaneous bending of the table and the patient's body, torso sliding platforms, “torso trolleys,” or “trunk translators” were developed, wherein these devices can be actively driven. These devices are configured to slide the patient's torso along a portion of the surgical table to reduce or eliminate dragging of the torso that would otherwise occur during simultaneous bending of the table and the patient's body, as well as potentially harmful distraction and compression along the spine.
The use of sliding chest platforms, however, introduces additional challenges into the surgical environment, as well as bulk and complexity including, additional software programming. For example, translating the patient's torso along the surgical table means that the patient's head is also moved along the table. Thus, the tracheal tube and other anesthetic equipment, such as tubes and lines, are forced to be moved along the table with the patient's head and upper torso. These movements increase the chances that the tracheal tube will be dislodged from the patient's trachea causing dangerous and potentially life threatening conditions. Another potential hazard of translating a patient's head during articulating of the surgical table is that pressure points could be introduced on the patient's head and eyes that could cause lasting damage. For example, as the patient's head is translated along the surgical table, the patient's head could come to rest in such a way as to put a dangerous amount of weight and pressure on the patient's eyes, thus risking blindness to the patient.
It is with these observations of surgical tables and the various challenges they introduce, among other observations, that various aspects of the present disclosure were conceived and developed.